Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-10-20
BOURBON AND srALwARr.
why Republican Tricksters and Ofdce-
Grabbers Hate Honest Voters.

WHY Republican Tricksters and Once
Grabbers Hate Honest Voters.
Missouri Democrats are not likely to
trouble themselves to be offended ut the
charges of '.Bourbonism' preferred
against them by Republican organ
printed IN this city. They do r:,t hold
it tte fault of cur that he is currish.
and VIXEN he snarls at his betters 1T
need not provoke them beyond smile
If there ever was any reproach in
..Bourbonism, the application of the
epithet to such honest and sturdy Dem
ocrats as those of this State has re-
moved it and made it title of honor.
Missouri is full of Bourbon Democrats.
They have made it a great State; filled
it with school-houses and churches;
driven out ignorance; checked intoler-
anee; subdued Republicanism.
One characteristic of the Democrat
is his ability not to steal himself rich
when he has the opportunity. This
brings him into great contempt with
Republicans who expect to steal, who
have already stolen, or who are enjoy
ing the usufruct of the theft of others.
In the days of the French monarchy,
when breaking the Decalogue was a
necessity of fashion, there was
yet one reservation, there re-
manned yet one crime, unpardon-
able in the eyes of men. 1t was
said then that ga gentleman never
steals.' But Stalwart Republicanism
has changed all that. The pudgy fin
gers of the Stalwart which have
clutched money won at the expense of
felon's stripes, WELD a pen which
glorifies the successful thief and makes
honesty a mark of weak-mindedness
There have been Stalwart Repu blicans
not few in Missouri, and the State is
unfortunately not yet free from them,
though several left it after serving
their sentences. The belief that it is
mark of superior intelligence to steal
from the Government has always been
one of the Stalwart's most prominent
characteristics, but as he has not
always been able to show himself SUI
perior to the logged Bourbonism
which insists that thieves must be pun
ished, it is natural that he should not
only despise the Bourbon. but hate him
heartily. This hate and contempt is
shared by the two great classes of
SStalwarts-those who have stolen al
ready and those who expect to steal
when they get the opportunity. In the
city Stalwart, who has embraced his
opportunities, it makes itself apparent
in labored sneers. Among the lone
gallused" Stalwarts of the swamps and
hills. who have only such poor oppor-
ttinity as is afforded by the chance to
squat on land which does not be-
long to them, it shows itself in Bald
knob leagues which assault Bourbonism
with buckshot. Nevertheless, Bourbon
Democracy holds the State, and the
State thrives as the doors of the peni-
Tertiary close on one Stalwart after
another.
Though forced to maintain peni-
Tertiary for knaves, the Bourbon Dem
ocrat believes in liberty for all who are
fit for it. His chief aim is to remain
free himself and. to leave others as free
as he is. When stalwart Republican,
ism. with no conscience of it's own, at
tempts to take charge of the con-
sciences of others, it is Bourbonism
that thwarts it. When the Republican
stalwart undertakes to subvert the free
institutions of the Bourbons of a cent
ury ago, it is the Bourbon of to-day
who foils him. When the stalwart
clamors for a military dictatorship to
shield knaves from the punishment of
knavery, it is the Bourbon sentiment
of the country which brushes him. 1t
is the Bourbon who meets him at every
turn, and for all his cunning, for all his
thousand shifts, the Bourbon who beats
him at every turn. This enrages him
the more because he can not under
stand it, feeling himself. as he does,
UNNECESSARILY superior to all that has
not the characteristics of involution and
duplicity. 1t is useless to try to eX-
plain it to him, or to attempt to make
him see that there are ways higher and
nobler than his ways. He counts
nothing worth that does not pay, and
having no other standard than his own
he can apply no other To present
others to him is idle, for he returns to
his Stalwartism as the dog returns to
mis- vomit The country will never be
free from him, for while the world
lasts there will be supply of knaves
and tricksters to keep Stalwartlsm
alive. And it is a comforting belief
that while the Stalwart is IN the world
the Bourbon will also remain to put
him to confusion.
When every thing in Rome was for
sale there remained the Bourbon
Metuilus. whose virtue money could
not buy. When Republican Stalwart-
ism offered every thing at auction in
the United States, Bourbonism alone
could neither be bought nor sold. 1t
saved this country. 1t will preserve it.
st. Louis Republican.